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Archive for April, 2009

Cake Tasting #5: Montilio’s Bakery, Quincy MA

Cake tasting at Montilio's BakeryMontilio’s Bakery
638 Adams St, Quincy MA

Tasting Experience
Frank of Montilio’s was waiting for us when we arrived.  We were the only ones there for cake tasting.  Frank took all our info including the cake design we wanted, then he proceeded to cut us some slices of their cakes.  He was sweet.

Cake
We were served 7 different flavors.  They were all delicious.  The buttercream was on the sweeter side, but the cakes themselves were moist and the fillings were delicious.  We decided to do two flavors for our cake – Strawberry Grand Marnier (my new favorite cake flavor) and Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling for John.

Customer Service
I had to call Montilio’s to set up an appointment since I couldn’t find an email from their website.  I left a message and I got a call back the next day.  While on the call, I asked a list of their flavors sent to me and I received the email right away.

Price Quote
Strawberry Grand Marnier and Chocolate cake with Chocolate Mousse filling, round, 3 tiers, buttercream frosting, anniversary tier:
$4/slice
$75 flowers
$100 delivery to Belle Mer
Total = $535

Other Bakers
Cake Tasting #1: Sin Desserts, Providence RI
Cake Tasting #2: Corby Cakes and Cookies, Cranston RI
Cake Tasting #3: Diane’s Delectables, Warwick RI
Cake Tasting #4: Konditor Meister, Braintree MA

Meet celebrity wedding planner Mindy Weiss in NYC

Meet celebrity wedding planner Mindy Weiss in NYC

Limited space available.  Customers must RSVP to reserve a spot and purchase a $50 gift card.  Reservations will be taken on a first come first served basis.  Attending brides will be receiving a gift bag valued at over $125.  The guest of the bride will receive a gift bag valued at approximately $90.

Click here to see all upcoming events. To submit an event, click here.

Cake Tasting #4: Konditor Meister, Braintree MA

Cake tasting at Konditor MeisterKonditor Meister
32 Wood Rd, Braintree MA

Tasting Experience
The place was packed when we arrived.  We were told Saturdays are usually that busy.  So don’t expect special or undivided attention.  We were given a big portfolio of their cake designs.  The portfolio was divided into categories, buttercream being the cheapest and custom fondant being the more expensive ones.  We were then served 8 different cakes.  The slices were pretty huge.  We were left alone to taste the cakes then Julia came to us to discuss details.  She priced our cake right there, wrote all the information on a form and gave us our copies along with a checklist, policies, and instructions.

Cake
John and I are both chocolate people, but all the 8 cakes that were served to us were delicious!  I liked them all.  They were so moist.  If we could have all the flavors in our cake, we will.  But of course that is not possible.  My favorite was the Strawberry Grand Marnier.  I wanted more strawberries in it though, but it was still very good without strawberries.  John chose the Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling.  I loved the Black Forest as well, but without the cherries and cherry liquor which was at the bottom layer of the cake.  In the end, we decided to do two flavors for our cake.

Customer Service
Konditor Meister never responded to my online inquiry through their website.  We usually get our cakes from there, so I really wanted to have a cake tasting with them.  I called them to set up an appointment instead.

Price Quote
Strawberry Grand Marnier and Chocolate cake with Chocolate Mousse filling, round, 3 tiers, buttercream frosting, anniversary tier:
$3/slice
$40 flowers
$100 delivery to Belle Mer
Total = $410

*Konditor Meister uses rolled chocolate instead of fondant and costs $30/tier.

UPDATE: My review of Konditor Meister at our wedding is up.

Other Bakers
Cake Tasting #1: Sin Desserts, Providence RI
Cake Tasting #2: Corby Cakes and Cookies, Cranston RI
Cake Tasting #3: Diane’s Delectables, Warwick RI
Cake Tasting #5: Montilio’s Bakery, Quincy MA

Kleinfeld Manhattan Blow Out Sample Sale

Kleinfeld NYC April Blow Out Sample Sale

Click here to see all upcoming events. To submit an event, click here.

Cake Tasting #3: Diane’s Delectables, Warwick RI

Cake tasting at Diane's DelectablesDiane’s Delectables
830 Strawberry Field Rd West, Warwick RI

Tasting Experience
Diane of Diane’s Delectables prepared 7 flavors for us to taste at our tasting appointment.  What is so surprising is that she didn’t have the flavor (chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling) that I chose when we initially communicated.

Diane had tons of cake photos and they were beautiful.  I showed her the cake that we wanted and we were able to pick from her samples the flowers that we wanted to use.

According to Diane, it is cheaper to go with a dummy cake and sheet cake on the side for guests.  Her dummy cakes looked very real and there’s a portion of the bottom tier you can cut for cake cutting.

Cake
I wasn’t able to take note of all the flavors of the cakes we tasted.  The cake texture was good.  The cakes were moist, but could be better.  None of the cake samples have the flavors we usually go for in cakes, so we didn’t choose any of the flavors.  We told Diane to give us a quote for the chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling.

Customer Service
Diane was quick in responding to my emails.  She didn’t have any appointments available on the day of our appointment, but that was the only day I could come to RI so she tried to accommodate us.  We could either just pick up the cake samples and talk on the phone another day if we have any questions or sit with her for just a few minutes.  But she was able take the time to sit with us and discuss all the details we needed to discuss.

Price Quote
Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling, round 3-tier dummy cake, buttercream frosting, sheet cake serving 90 people:
$2.45/slice
$40 flowers
$55 delivery to Belle Mer
Total = $315.50

Other Bakers
Cake Tasting #1: Sin Desserts, Providence RI
Cake Tasting #2: Corby Cakes and Cookies, Cranston RI
Cake Tasting #4: Konditor Meister, Braintree MA
Cake Tasting #5: Montilio’s Bakery, Quincy MA

Cake Tasting #2: Corby Cakes, Cranston RI

Cake tasting with Shemry of Corby Cakes and CookiesCorby Cakes and Cookies
100 East St, Cranston RI

Tasting Experience
We were asked to choose four flavors ahead of time to taste at our appointment. We met Shemry at the tasting and she was so sweet. She had all our info including cake photos that I sent her printed out. She had cake pans stacked on top of each other to give us an idea of the size of our cake. She made samples of the little flowers that were similar to the ones on the design I sent her. Out of all the five bakers we went to, our meeting with Shemry was the most enjoyable and informative.  Before we left, Shemry packaged our leftovers for us to take home.

Cake
We tasted Red Velvet with cream cheese filling, Marble Cake with mocha filling, Triple Chocolate, and Strawberry Grand Marnier. The Red Velvet wasn’t moist enough for me, but definitely more moist than the Red Velvet from Sin Desserts. We tasted a small hint of liquorish flavor in the Triple Chocolate. I loved the flavor of the Strawberry Grand Marnier the best, but it wasn’t as moist as I wanted it to be as well. It also didn’t have enough strawberries in my opinion.  I like the buttercream, light and not too sweet.  Click here for a list of flavors.

Customer Service
Shemry was the quickest to reply to my first inquiry among all the other bakers I contacted.  She also emailed us the day after our tasting to see how we are and that she enjoyed meeting us.

Additional Info
Corby Cakes shares a space with the Pizza Place on 100 East St so just go in the Pizza Place. The Pizza Place is beside the Karate shop.

Price Quote
Strawberry Grand Marnier, round, 3 tiers serving 90 people, buttercream frosting:
$4/slice
$30 flowers
$33 delivery to Belle Mer
Total = $423

Other Bakers
Cake Tasting #1: Sin Desserts, Providence RI
Cake Tasting #3: Diane’s Delectables, Warwick RI
Cake Tasting #4: Konditor Meister, Braintree MA
Cake Tasting #5: Montilio’s Bakery, Quincy MA

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Click here to see all upcoming events. To submit an event, click here.

Cake Tasting #1: Sin Desserts, Providence RI

Cake tasting at Sin DessertsSin Desserts
200 Allens Ave, Providence RI

Tasting Experience
We were asked to choose four flavors ahead of time to taste at our appointment.  We met Jen at the tasting.  She was a little on the serious side.  She kept talking to John even though Iwas the one who had opinions on our cake.  When the tasting was done, she wrapped our leftovers for us to take home.  On our way out, Jen shook John’s hand and said “Nice meeting you.”  Then I leaned towards her to shook her hand and said “Nice meeting you,” but she didn’t say anything back.

Cake
We tasted Devil’s Food with raspberry filling, Malted Chocolate, Red Velvet with cream cheese filling, and Princess Cake.  The Red Velvet and Princess Cake were a little dry.  The Malted Chocolate was too rich for me.  I loved the Devil’s Food the most.  The buttercream frosting was light and delicious.  To get a quote, we decided on Devil’s Food with strawberry (fresh strawberries mixed with jam) filling.  Click here for a list of their flavors plus descriptions.

Customer Service
I haven’t really dealt much with their customer service.  But it took them 3 days to reply to my initial inquiry.

Additional Info
It’s hard to find Sin Desserts coz there’s no big sign on the store.  It is located in a building at the corner of Allens Ave and Public St.  Park in the parking lot with the wrought iron fence at the corner of the intersection.  The entrance to Sin Desserts is on the first floor by the mailboxes of the building across the parking lot.

Price Quote
Jen was supposed to email us the price quote a few days after our tasting.  But we already found our baker the day after so I wasn’t able to get the quote.  It was my fault, I should have waited for the price quote first.  But their prices started at $4/slice.

Other Bakers
Cake Tasting #2: Corby Cakes and Cookies, Cranston RI
Cake Tasting #3: Diane’s Delectables, Warwick RI
Cake Tasting #4: Konditor Meister, Braintree MA
Cake Tasting #5: Montilio’s Bakery, Quincy MA

Cake Inspiration

We’re having a nautical-themed wedding so I automatically thought of using a nautical cake design…

But for that past month, that has changed.  I was on a mission to look for something simple, a little less nautical, but still has a touch of the “ocean.”  And here’s what I found from Brides.com.

I think it’s perfect.  The wavy piping running around the cake resembles ocean waves.  The colors in the inspiration photo even match our colors.  I’ll either ask the baker to just copy the cake using blue rose buds or have blue corals in place of the roses.

Across the Blogosphere: What NOT to eat

After all that planning and money that went towards your wedding, you want to be able to attend and look and behave your best, don’t you?  Details Details  Event Planning posted a list of food that you shouldn’t eat during your wedding week to prevent getting sick or having any accidents.

Image from Getty Images